And according to the Express‘ Jack Staplehurst, Perez will have to lower the price set for Rodriguez in order to successfully offload him elsewhere.

The transfer market can often be a game of who blinks first. Almost like a game of battleships – a tacit contest of fleshing out minor gains by perhaps not even doing anything.

Such is the case here, and United’s nemesis, as it so often has been in the past, is plutocrat Perez. Dropping his valuation of Rodriguez means he would have lost money, but with Zinedine Zidane keen to fill the Columbian’s place with another attacking midfielder, he won’t have much of a choice.

Mourinho could very easily optimise this rare advantage of Madrid at there negotiating table by waiting until August – even late August – before eventually buying for far less than initially expected.